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(No Model.) v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. l r T. BI'ERAU.

VELOGIPEDB. I No. 358,590. Patented Mar. 1, 1887.

(No Model.)

7 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.. T. BIERAU. VBLOGIPEDE.

Patented Mar. 1, 1887.

N. PETERS, Phuwumu n mn Washingien. o c.

NIIFD drains Parent tribe.

THEODOR BIERAU, OF ROTHAU, LOWER ALSAGE, GERMANY.

VELOClPEDE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 358,590, dated March 1, 1887.

Application filed June 9, 1886. Serial No. 204,631. (No modeLl Patented in Belgium May 21, 1885, No.68,953; in France May 21,1885,N0. 169,081; in England May 21,1885, No. 6,245; in Germany Ma-y22. 1885, No. 33,670, and May 11, 1886, No. 37,805; in Italy June 12, 1885, XXXVI, 280,- in Austria llungary November 18, 1885, No.19,282 and No. 58,893, and in Denmark May 18,1886,No. 292.

T aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, 'lnnonon BIERAU, a subject of the German Emperor, residing at Rothau, Lower Alsace, German Empire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Velocipedes, (for which Letters Patent have been obtained in Belgium, No. 68,953, dated May 21, 1885 in Denmark, No. 292, dated May 18,1886; in Germany, No. 33,670, dated May 22, 1885, and No. 37,805, dated May 11, 1886; in France, No. 169,081, dated May 21, 1885; in Great Britain, No. 6,245, dated May 21, 1885; in Italy, No. 280, dated June 12,1885, and in Austria-Hungary, No. 19,282 and No. 58,893, dated November 18, 1885;) and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,

and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form apart of this specification.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a portion of the steering yoke or part of a velocipede embodying my improved mode of securing the steering bars or handles thereto. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a detached detail side elevation, on a larger scale, of a portion of one of the steering-bars. Fig. 4is an under side view of the same. Fig. 5 is a section on line 5 5 of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a like view on line 6 6 of said Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a top plan view, Fig. 8 a side elevation, and Fig. 9 a rear elevation, of the upper portion or head of the steering yoke or post, the steering handles or bars being removed therefrom, said figures being drawn to an enlarged scale. Fig. 10 is a rear elevation of one-half of the steering yoke or post, and Fig; 11 a side elevation of the same, showing a slight modification in the construction of the means for connecting the steering bars or handles. Fig. 12 is a section on line 12 12 of Fig. 10. Fig. 13 shows by a side elevation a part of the steeringyoke and a portion of one of the steering bars or handles, the latter in longitudinal central section. Fig. 14 is an under side viewof the steering bar or handle shown in Fig. 12; and Fig. 15 is a section on line 15 15 of Fig. 14:, looking toward the right.

In these drawings like letters indicate like parts wherever such may occur in the drawings.

One of the objects of this invention relates to an improved means for securing the steering-bars to the steering yoke or post, so as to insure their folding together forwardly when, by reason of meeting with an obstruction, the rider is thrown forward, and takes what is commonly termed a header, so as to enable him to land on his feet.

The further object of this invention is to protect the steeringbars from injury, when the machine is tilted forward with the bars folded together, and said bars brought with great force to the ground, by causing the same to fold backward onto the saddle as soon as they come in contact with the ground.

To these ends the invention consists in connecting the steering-bars to the steering yoke or post of the velocipede by a universal or ball-and-socket joint, and providing the said steering yoke or post with means whereby the bars may move in the direction of the vertical axis of the yoke or post and in a direction at right angles thereto, but rearwardly only, substantially as hereinafter fully described. The invention further consists in the means for locking the steering-bars rigidly to the yoke or post for operating, and in the combination therewith of means for disengaging said bars to enable them to fold together vertically and tilt backwardly onto the saddle when brought in contact with the ground in case of an accident by which the machine is thrown forward, substantially as hereinafter fully described.

In the drawings, A indicates the head of the steeringyoke, and A a bearing-plate secured thereto by means of screws or bolts. In said head and plate are formed hemispherical recesses, which together form spherical bearings for the spherical ends of the steering-bars B, and in the upper face of said plate and head is formed a right-angled groove or recess, A that extends to thehemispherical cavities, one half of each groove being formed in the plate A and the other half in the head A, the branch at of the slot extending laterally and the branch (L rearwardly from said bearings, as more plainly shown in Figs. 7, 8, and 9.

The steeringbars B have handles B at one end and terminate at the other end in a ball or sphere, a. The bars, near their rear end, are enlarged, as shown at B, and in the under side of said enlarged portion is formed a groove, 9', that mergesat its forward end into a dovetailed groove, g, formed in part in the enlargement B and in part in a bearing or face plate, G, secured to one side of the enlargement by means of screws 0 d c, as more.

plainly shown in Fig. 3. In said dovetailed groove is fitted, so as to slide freely therein, a block, g, the forward end, h, of which is hookshaped, and to said block is pivoted, at l, the outer bent end of a brace-rod, D, whose inner end is connected by a pivot, 12, with the steering yoke or post A, said pivot being common to both braces of the steering-bars B.

The brace-rods D are made of two sections connected together by a right and left hand threaded sleeve, D, for the purpose of adj usting the steering-bars into proper position relatively to the head of the steering yoke or post, so that said bars may be adjusted into a position for operation more or less at an angle to the vertical axis of said yoke A.

It is obvious that when power is applied to move the steering-bars B in the direction of the vertical axis of the yoke the blocks 9 will slide toward said yoke and, entering the recess 9 will be disengaged therefrom, thus permitting the steeringbars to be straightened out on a line with the yoke, as shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2, the rear ends of said bars moving in the lateral branch, (1, of the angular groove A or recesses a" a, formed in the head and bearing-plate A A, as above described, and when said bars are in the position described they are also free to move rearwardly in the branch to of said groove or recess A, so that when pressure is exerted upon said bars in that direction they will be tilted backward onto the saddle S, as shown in Fig. 2.

To prevent'the accidental disconnection of the steering-bars from their respective bracerods when in ordinary use for steering the ma chine, and to provide means for automatically disconnecting said bars from the braces when the rider is thrown forward, I employ detentlevers E, that are pivoted in the outer end of the dovetailed portion of the groove or recess 9' g, the short arms of said levers being provided with hooks t, that engage the forward hooked portion h of the slide-blocks g, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. These levers are angle-levers, so as to project from the under side of the steering-bars at an angle thereto.

It will be readily understood that should the rider meet with an'obstruction, and his machine be tilted forward thereby, the steering land on his feet, and preventing injury to the steering-handles, which would otherwise result from the violence with which they are brought in contact with the ground.

When it is desired to lock the detent-levers D out of operationthat is,when it is desired to hold them in engagement with the blocks g-I provide a ring, F, held in frictional contact with the steeringbar by means of spring f, which ring, when moved back toward the fulcrum of the levers E, will lock the same against rotation, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, and if the threaded sleeves or nuts D are rotated to shorten the braces D, the steer ing-bars will be firmly locked into position.

Instead of thering and spring, a nut working on a threaded portion of the steering bar may be employed to produce the same result, as will be readily understood.

Other means may be employed for obtaining the proper movement of the steering-bars, under the circumstances referred to. For instance, a uniformly-dovetailed groove, 9, may be formed in the under side of the steeringbars and the braces connected with the sliding block and the steering yoke or post by means of universal joints, as shown in Figs. 10, 11, and 12, the inner end of the braces being connected with the yoke on opposite sides by ball-and-socket joint, and with the blocks 9, by a universal joint, 5/" g, of well-known con struction, so as to allow the steering-bars B to move first on a line with the vertical axis of the yoke or post, and then rearwardly at right angles thereto in the grooves or recesses A, as shown in said Figs. 10, 11, and 12. It will be readily understood that this mode of connecting the brace-rods D to the yoke and blocks may also be employed in the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 7, and with some advantage in case the blocks should fail to move out of the groove from any cause.

If desired, the enlarged portion B of the steering-rods may be of tubular form, as shown in Figs. 13, 14, and 15, having in its under side a slot, G, the rear end of which is of such width as to allow the sliding blocks 9, which may be cylindrical in cross-section, to slide out of the tubes to which the ball-bearing and steering-arms are connected at opposite ends, as plainly shown.

The detent-levers in this construction are pivoted on screw-points 7c In, Fig. 14, and locked against rotation by a ring, F, one of IOO said screw-pivots is serving to receive the springf that binds the ring F to the steeringbar.

I donot desire to claim herein certain features of construction shown, described, and claimed in my pending application for patent, Serial No. 168,985, filed June 17, 1885, except so far as such devices may enter into combination with the novel features of construction hereinabove described.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1. In a velocipede, the combination, with the steering-yoke, of steering bars or handles connected thereto by universal or ball-andsocket joints and a locking device to lock the said bars against movement on said yoke, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a velocipede, the combination, with the steering-yoke, of steering-bars connected with said yoke by universal or ball-andsocket joints, 2. locking device to lock the bars against movement on the yoke, and detents to automatically disengage said bars from the locking device when pressure is applied to said detents, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

3. In a velocipede, the combination, with the steering-yoke, of steering-bars connected with said yoke by universal or balland-socket joints, alocking device to lock the bars against movement on the yoke, detents to automatic ally disengage said bars from the locking devire when pressure is applied to said detents, and a locking device to lock the detents out of operation, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

4. In a velocipede, the combination, with the steering-yoke provided in its head with spherical recesses and angular grooves H intersecting said recesses, of steering-bars having ball-bearings seated in said recesses, said bars being free to swing vertically and horizontally in the branches a a of said grooves a, and a locking-device for locking the bars into operative position, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

5. In a velocipede, the combination, with the steering-yoke, of steering-bars connected with said yoke by universal or ball-and socket joints, said bars being arranged to swing in arcs of circles at right angles toeach other, a locking device consisting of brace-rods connected at one end to the yoke and at the other to a block or bearing that is free to slide in a longitudinal groove formed in said steeringarms, and means to hold the block against motion in the groove, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

6. In a velocipede, the combination, with the steering-yoke, of steering-bars connected with said yoke by universal or ball-and-socket joints, a locking device consisting of bracerods, adjustable as to length, connected at one end to the yoke and at the other to a block or hearing that is free to slide in a longitudinal groove formed in said steering arms, and means to hold the block against motion in the groove, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

7. In a velocipede, the combination, with the steering-yoke, of steering-bars connect-ed with said yoke by universal or ball-and-socket joints, brace-rods connected at one end by a universal joint to the yoke and at the other by a like joint to a block or bearing that is free to slide in a groove or recess formed in said bars, and means to lock the block against motion in the groove, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

8. In a velocipede, the combination, with the steering-yoke, steering-bars connected with said yoke by universal or ball-and-socket joints, brace-rods connected at one end by a universal joint to the yoke and at the other by a like joint to a block or bearing that is free to slide in a groove or recess formed. in said bars, and a detent-lever, E, operating to lock the block against movement in the groove and automatically release the same when pressure is applied to one of the lever-arms, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

9. In a velocipede, the combination, with the steering yoke or post provided in its head with spherical recesses and angular grooves A intersecting said recesses, steering arms terminating in a ball-bearing seated in said recesses, said bars having a groove, g, in their under side, blocks 9, fitted and arranged to slide in said grooves and provided with a hook end, It, and bracerods connected with the blocks and yoke or post, of the detent-levers E,having hooked portion i, adapted to engage the hook end of the blocks, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

10. In a velocipede, the combination, with the steering-yoke provided in its head with spherical recesses and angular grooves A intersecting said recesses, and steering-bars ter minating in ball bearings seated in said spherical recesses in the head of the yoke and having a tubular portion, B, slotted in its under side, of blocks 5 fitted and sliding in said tubular portions and provided with a hook end, h, brace-rods connected with the blocks and yoke, and deteut-levers E, having a hook-arm, t, that engages with the hook end of the blocks, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

11. The combination, with the steeringyokes, steering-bars connected thereto by a universal joint, brace'rods D, adjustable as to length, arranged to slide along the bars, and detent levers E, pivoted to said bars and operating to lock the brace-rods against movement, of the lockingrings F and springs f, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THEODOR BIERAII.

WVitnesses:

ALBERT JUNGBLUT, L. SOIILEISSER. 

